New regulations will make races 'more exciting'

Formula

- Ian Parkes

One heads into the unknown in 2026, tackling one of the biggest regulation changes to its cars in the history of the sport, creating anxiety, excitement and relief."One of the big challenges is operating in the dark," said Nikolas Tombazis, single-seater director of the FIA, the sport's governing body, in November. "You don't know where the others are.

"You don't know whether you need to recover one second from one season to the next, or if you're ahead and going to start the championship winning or in woeful misery. So that angst of the unknown, I think, is psychologically very draining for teams."

Last January, teams started work on a car that, according to the FIA, will be "agile, competitive, safer and more sustainable". There is a 30kg weight reduction and the cars will be shorter by 20cm and narrower by 10cm.

The most significant changes are to the power unit, with a 300 per cent increase in electrical power, leading to an even split between the internal combustion engine and electric power. The cars will run on 100 per cent sustainable fuel derived from carbon from nonfood sources and general waste or carbon captured from the atmosphere.